This application pertains to the art of plastic containers and more particularly to plastic pails having plastic bail-type handles secured thereto. The invention is particularly applicable to plastic pails that are subject to low temperatures, for example, when used for storing frozen food products such as ice cream or the like. However, it will be appreciated that the invention has broader applications and may be advantageously employed for packaging other food products, as well as in other environments and applications.
An injection molded plastic container of the type generally used to package food products includes a one-piece or unitary cylindrical container. Usually, the container is formed in a molding operation such that the container is closed at a bottom end and a circumferentially continuous sidewall tapers generally laterally outward as the container extends from the closed end to an upper or open end. As will be appreciated, the tapering conformation allows open ended containers to be nested one inside the other to thereby limit the amount of space required to ship unfilled containers. The upper end of each container includes a lip or rim that lockingly cooperates with a separately formed closure member or lid. The lid, likewise, includes a lip portion adapted to snap fit and securely lock over the rim to close the container.
Also provided adjacent the upper edge of each container are a pair of bail ears. Preferably, the bail ears are integrally molded of the same plastic as the remainder of the container, for example, recyclable high density polyethylene. The bail ears extend radially outward from the container sidewall and are disposed diametrically opposite one another to provide balance when the container is carried by the bail. Each ear includes a smooth-walled mounting face spaced outwardly from the remainder of the container sidewall and has an aperture extending therethrough adapted to receive opposed ends of the bail. For example, commercially available containers use a bail formed from metal wire stock. Opposed ends of the bails have a generally arcuate or U-shape configuration for receipt in the openings of the bail ears. This arrangement permits selective pivotal movement of the handle relative to the container. Further details of this type of container may be found in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,098, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Although containers of this general type have met with commercial success, the metal bail, although still the most commonly used type of bail, is not preferred for all situations. There are some problems associated with its use. For example, there is the potential for puncturing the plastic container, particularly when the container is exposed to subfreezing temperatures. During the packaging and distribution process at sub-zero temperatures, plastic has a greater chance of breaking because of its brittle nature at the low temperatures. If impact occurs, the metal handle may be driven through the brittle plastic and may break away a piece of plastic into the contents of the package. In the case of food products, the risk of a plastic piece being lodged in the food product is undesirable. This problem is generally known in the industry as coining.
Another problem associated with a metal bail is the potential for interference with a metal detector installed in a food processing plant used to monitor the infeeding of the food product into a container. The metal detector eliminates the potential for undesirable metal inadvertently becoming intermixed with the food product. As will be apparent, the metal bail could "falsely" trigger the metal detector. Since the plastic container with a metal bail is otherwise desirable, alternative solutions to maintain the integrity of the metal detector, without unnecessarily tripping the detector as each metal bail passes, must be made.
Still another area of increasing concern is the ability to recycle containers. As with so many other products, the limited space remaining in landfills has brought an increased focus on the ability to recycle containers. Although the plastic container is itself recyclable, and the metal bails are also recyclable, the combined plastic and metal product is undesirable since it is considered a commingled product. That is, the container assembly includes different materials of construction which require dismantling or disassembly in order to separate the different, individual components, i.e., metal and plastic. Additional handling and expense are thus encountered at the recycling facility because of the use of different material components, if the facility accepts the commingled product at all.
Others in the industry have manufactured plastic handles or bails. Prior known plastic bails are expensive as a result of the intricate molding operation associated with forming the handle. Additionally, the mounting means for attaching the handle to the remainder of the container has also encountered problems. Representative of known plastic handles are U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,789 and published British Patent Specification 832,359. Those documents illustrate handle mounting arrangements in which an enlarged head is received through a smaller shaped opening and a necked down projection extends freely through the bail ear allowing selective articulation of the handle relative to the container. These types of arrangements, though, have a tendency to shear along the necked down region of the mounting means. No accommodation is made in the bails to accommodate outward stresses imposed thereon by, for example, a lid received on a container. Additionally, the low temperatures encountered have a tendency to make the small diameter connections very brittle and subject to breakage.
The subject invention is deemed to overcome these and a number of other problems.